put on your damn seat belt

“A few years back near Montreal, 2 teenage girls were walking on a railway track, with their walkmans' volume turned to max. They were holding each other's hands, when the train plowed into them on the curve in the track. They were facing away from the train. Later on, the authorities found a suicide pact in their rooms.”

“Well it sounds like a lot of people have had close calls or accident visuals that they would like to have not seen. I am glad that you all survived the close calls, and Josh, you did good trying to help the lady even though the visuals were so disturbing. Okie, the insurance system makes prevention financially important to us all, but I am happy that you do use your seatbelt. We can agree to disagree. Have a good day, all.”

“Sauron and I are alive right now only because of seatbelts. About 6 years ago a deer struck the side of the front end of my car. It was snowing and slick and I was only going about 30 mph but because it was so slick the force of the impact sent the car into a spin. The back end slid off the road and the rest of the car soon followed it because it was a sheer drop with no guard rail. The car rolled to the bottom and then flipped end over end. The bizarre thing was that when it came to rest (upright)the engine was still running, all the lights were on and the radio was still playing. The front axle was broken, the tires blown and embedded in the engine compartment. The roof was smashed to slightly above the hood and the windows were smashed out. Apparently at some time while it was upside down the car slid sideways because it was full of sod all the way up to our armpits. There is no way we would have survived that without our seatbelts. Sauron got a concussion and we both got some minor scratches and bruises. I have always felt bad for the boy who was driving right behind us because he fully expected to find dead people when he got down to our car. He was hysterical and I spent a most of the time while we were waiting for the ambulance calming him down.

JOSH, I'm sorry you had to experienced that and I hope you never have to see anything like that ever again. There's no way of knowing whether a seatbelt would have helped her, but I sincerely doubt it would have hurt her.”

“I have seen both sides of the coin and around the edges of it too. I have happened up on more than my share of bad wrecks and been the first one there too. I worked for a funeral home for two and a half years as well and saw more than I care to share with you. I also survived a bad wreck because I fell asleep driving home late one night. 9/9/98 and only now am I able to walk around a bit better and yes, I was wearing my seatbelt!

You never forget an accident like that and my thoughts and prayers go out to you and your dad.

Thank God for people like you who do stop and try to help out. I never saw the guy that found me three hours later, but I remember his voice and how much that meant to me.

I did later find out his name and I called him up to thank him for my life. He remembered my voice too and he knew it was me before I could tell him who I was.

Nope, you`ll never forget!”

“Individual rights buckle under seat belt laws
DEREK KIEPER

September 17, 2004

I’m from the school of thought where everyone should have the right to do as they please as long as they are not infringing on the rights of other people. This comes from the political philosophy that inspired our founders and freedoms.

The duty of government is nothing more than to make sure everyone’s rights are protected and not infringed upon. Uncle Sam is not here to regulate every facet of life no matter the consequences.

No law, or set of laws, has made the government more intrusive and ridiculous than seat belt legislation. Nothing is a bigger affront to the ideas of freedom, liberty, yada, yada, yada. Whether you are a pinko liberal or a right-wing whack job, there are plenty of reasons for just saying to hell with seat belt laws.

Democrats and Republicans alike should stand together to stop these laws that are incongruous with the ideals of both parties.

more...”

“I wear mine because stupid idiots like this hit me!”

“I-80 crash claims UNL student's life

Derek Kieper was a smart, funny, intense young man who relished a good debate and would do anything for his friends.

Kieper, a 21-year-old senior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, died early Tuesday morning when the Ford Explorer he was a passenger in travelled off an icy section of Interstate 80 and rolled several times in a ditch. Kieper, who was riding in the back seat of the Explorer, was ejected from the vehicle.

Two others in the vehicle, including the driver, Luke Havermann of Ogallala, and the front-seat passenger, Nick Uphoff of Randolph Air Force Base in Texas, sustained non-life threatening injuries. Havermann and Uphoff, both 21, were being treated at BryanLGH Medical Center West.

The three men, members of the same UNL fraternity, were returning to Lincoln from San Antonio, Texas at the time of the accident, reported to authorities by a truck driver around 3 a.m.

<snip>”

“Nice set up.”

“No disrespect intended to this young man’s friends or family members who might stumble upon this post, but the irony is instructive.”

“The pain and sorrow that friends and family would feel is reason enough to wear a seatbelt.”

“A seat belt saved my life. I don't wear it because the state or government tells me to.”

“It’s weird how things change. When I was a kid my place was in the back seat…standing up and jumping up and down until my head hit the roof going over bumps (yeah, explains a lot I know). I used to jump my bike off anything with no helmet. To get into a car with no seat belt or to ride a bike without a helmet would just drive me crazy nervous.”